Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

A few weeks back I picked up AC:B but did not mention it due to all the events in WoW and not wanting to waste my 100th post on a non WoW topic. However we still have a week until Cata and I am not raiding until later so now is the perfect time to review it.

Remember how cool the Fable 3 collectors edition was? This Collectors does not just top it, it waits on the roof for it then drops down killing it with his hidden blade.

First just look at this box


Open it up and you find the whole set enclosed in a box that looks like a marble tomb decorated with the Assassins symbol.



Inside, nothing.


Obviously a false bottom but you get;


Behind the Scenes DVD
Soundtrack (not embedded on the DVD like two's was, thank god they did not make that mistake again)
Map of Rome

12 Cards containing pictures and backgrounds on all the multiplayer characters

Codes for two bonus multiplayer characters as well as bonus levels and armor
3 Cards with amazing art from their art studio

Finally a leather bound Codex that is split in two sections. The first is a physical representation of Altiar's hand written codex pages as seen in AC2, the second half is beautiful concept art.




For only $10 more than the Fable CE this set comes out as one of the best I have brought yet.


To the game itself. The Solo play begins as the second game did, in the exact moment that the game before it finished. From there you are given a quick action packed refresher coarse on the gameplay followed by your standard slow intro the the new storyline.
Once you get to Rome and out of the intro the game really opens up with many different places to go and thing to see, it only gets bigger from there as well. By the time you start getting Assassins to train you have half a dozen different paths to take outside of the story, quests and events that can tie you up for quite a while.

One of the best and most time consuming features brought into the Solo play is the addition of different levels of Synchronization through memory's. Just running the mission how you want and being successful is not enough to get 100%. To come out on top you must complete certain criteria i.e. meet a set time, kill no one in the level before your target or maybe perform the kill with a certain technique. The variety and challenge of some of them will have you redoing whole missions just to get that perfect run through.

The new addition to the game franchise is the addition of a multiplayer mode. Not your standard multiplayer games you are required to hunt down and kill over players in solo or team play with more points given the more stealthy and artistic the kill.
There have been many times where I will come 1st place after 6 odd kills while place 4 has 11 odd kills.
As you level through your kill score/exp you will earn new skills to make you a better killer such as disguises, smokebombs and throwing knives.
To make matters more complicated the zones are filled with NPC's that look exactly like you and your targets.

Game modes include 'Wanted' which involves each member being assigned a target to kill while someone else is assigned to kill you. Later in the match the targets change so that the higher up the list you are the more people are assigned to you. In big games of 7+ this means that those who come late or are having a bad day can pull themselves up the ladder without having to worry about being taken out.

Next we have 'Alliance' which is a basic 2v2v2 game which functions a lot like 'Wanted' but with a partner. In this game bonus points can be earned by working with your partner but this proves difficult in a random online pairing. The game is broken into two segments where you chase one team and then reverse the order in the second half.

The final basic type is 'Manhunt' which is a 4v4 team game. Each team shares a look and is given a 5min round at being the hunter while the together team must hide. The aim in this game is simply about earning the most points ether by killing the other team or by avoiding being killed.

Over all the game is very fun and full of things to keep you busy well into the future. While the graphics have not been updated since the second game the rest of the experience has evolved nicely. The multiplayer is a very welcome addition that brings a unique and enjoyable experience.
This is a really well made game for it only being a year since the last one was released. I defiantly recommend you give this ago even if you have never played an Assassin's Creed game before.

LFG Armageddon

This past Saturday I missed most of the Blizzcon news because I was out at Armageddon, New Zealands smaller equivalent of Comic Con.

My Partner, two of our friends and myself left early in the morning for the 2 hour trip up north to the yearly expo.
This was my first time ever going to Armageddon and only had a vague idea what to expect. I knew there would be people in Cosplay and plenty of games and comics but that was about all.

We got there about 30min after opening and already the place was filling up quick.
Our first plan was just to walk around and take in the sites. Along with the expected booths there was plenty of cheep imitation products and expensive authentic products. There was nerf gun displays and demos for the PS Move and Xbox Kinect, Costumes for Halloween and plenty of other random little things.

After spending the morning site seeing my first proper stop was the Ubisoft Assassins Creed Brotherhood stall where I was able to try out the new multiplayer feature before release. It was a local match with myself vs 4 other strangers, sadly due to a muddle up with consoles I only had two character to choose from but I was just excited to be there.
After picking the Barber we were in the game and I had to quickly remember controls I had not touched in months. Nothing like the thought of someone coming to kill you to help you remember how to free run over buildings.
I spent most of the round in second place and It really was a lot of fun the system took a bit to get used to with a few rules that had to be picked up as you we but it was a great experience. You were given an NPC mark and once they were dead you were given a player mark. The longer your kill streak the more player were assigned to kill you. My friend was watching from behind me and said it was great knowing just who my mark was and watching their face drop as I took them out, I only knew the feeling of the monk beside me yelling with joy as he bludgeoned me to death twice.
Overall the graphics and general gameplay has not really changed that much from the second game but the multiplay was a lot of fun and I have a strong feeling that I am going to be playing it for a long time to come.
Edit:Seems that there were not NPC's I was killing just really bad players.

While on the subject of games I had the chance to have a look at some live demos for the Move and Kinect. The move I was disappointed with, even knowing what it was it came off as just a better higher class Wii. Sure that's basically what it is but I really did not grab me like the Kinect did. The Kinect was amazing, it responded really well to movement and boy was there a lot more movement than I expected. With out playing them myself the Kinect is the hands down winner.


After a late lunch and 45min in the line for the ATM I headed off the the Blind Ferret booth where Ryan Sohmer and Lar de Souza were selling and signing there wares. For those who don't know Ryan and Lar do the web comics 'Least I Could Do' and 'Looking For Group'. I picked up a copy of LFG Volume 1 and was lucky enough to get them both to sign it. After that I went to the Web Comics panel hosted by the two of them. While my partner and friends were not interested in the panel they all came and listened and to be blunt Ryan and Lar are f'ing hilarious, my face hurt from laughing it was just an hour of humorous stories tie together by a little bit of web comic talk, even my partner had a good time. I even go sworn at by Lar and told to "F**k off and let us sleep" when asking if we could have more frequent updates on LFG, loved it.


It was a great day and although we had a lot of fun I was defiantly a once in a while thing, although next time I will be sure to bring tonnes of cash to take advantage of all the great deals there. Also from looking at the different levels of costumes I think if I ever go in Cosplay I will defiantly have to spend a year or so on it. Sure there were some great costumes but I do not want to end up like those people that seemed to just whack theirs together. Also although I know you probably don't read I want to apologize tot he guy I insulted in the ATM line, I really had no clue you were behind me. However to be fair if you come to a Con like this and your Altiar/Ezio Costume is you in an Assassins Creed official hoody with a plastic sword under your belt you deserve to be mocked a tiny bit.


Hopefully some time in the future I can see how America does it by visiting Comic Con itself or perhaps even Blizzcon.